§ 3306. Licensing

(a) No person shall engage in intrastate commerce in the business of buying, selling, preparing, processing, packing, storing, transporting, or otherwise handling meat, meat food products, or poultry products, unless that person holds a valid license issued under this chapter. Categories of licensure shall include commercial slaughterers; custom slaughterers; commercial processors; custom processors; wholesale distributors; retail vendors; meat and poultry product brokers; renderers; public warehouse operators; animal food manufacturers; handlers of dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals; and any other category that the Secretary may by rule establish.

(b) The owner or operator of each plant or establishment of the kind specified in subsection (a) of this section shall apply in writing to the Secretary on a form prescribed by him or her for a license to operate the plant or establishment. In case of change of ownership or change of location, a new application shall be made. Any person engaged in more than one licensed activity shall obtain separate licenses for each activity.

(c) The head of service shall investigate all circumstances in connection with the application for license to determine whether the applicable requirements of this chapter and rules made under it have been complied with. The Secretary shall grant, condition, or refuse the license upon the basis of all information available to him or her, including all facts disclosed by investigation. Each license shall bear an identifying number.

(d) The annual fee for a license for a retail vendor is $15.00 for vendors without meat processing operations, $50.00 for vendors with meat processing space of less than 300 square feet or meat display space of less than 20 linear feet, and $100.00 for vendors with 300 or more square feet of meat processing space or 20 or more linear feet of meat display space. Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in a special fund managed pursuant to 32 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 7, subchapter 5 and shall be available to the Agency to offset the cost of administering chapter 204 of this title. For all other plants, establishments, and related businesses listed under subsection (a) of this section, except for a public warehouse licensed under chapter 67 of this title, the annual license fee shall be $150.00.

(e) The Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, refuse to grant, suspend, or revoke a license; may impose terms or conditions for operation under a license, including video monitoring; or may take any other action that he or she deems appropriate concerning any license, if he or she determines that any false statement was made in the application or if he or she finds that there is any failure to comply with this chapter or the rules made under it.

(f) [Repealed.]

(g) Producers of livestock and livestock dealers who sell carcasses to or through inspected slaughterhouses are exempt from having to obtain a wholesale distributor‘s license under this section. All other licensing provisions shall be applicable to such an individual.

(h) The Secretary may deny a commercial slaughter license or the renewal of a commercial slaughter license under this chapter to a person who has been convicted of a felony, convicted of a misdemeanor involving cruelty to animals, or has been found in violation of section 3132 of this title more than once. The Secretary may deny a commercial slaughter license or renewal of a commercial slaughter license under this chapter if a person responsibly connected to the applicant has been convicted of a felony, convicted of a misdemeanor involving cruelty to animals, or has been found in violation of section 3132 of this title more than once. As used in this subsection, a “person responsibly connected to an applicant” is a partner, officer, director, holder, or owner of 10 percent or more of the voting stock of the applicant’s business or is an employee in a managerial or executive capacity at the applicant’s business.

(i) All applicants for licensure or relicensure as a commercial slaughter facility shall submit a written humane livestock handling plan or a good commercial practices plan for poultry for review and approval by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets or designee. The Secretary may suspend, revoke, or condition any commercial slaughter facility license, after notice and opportunity for hearing, for a licensee’s failure to adhere to the written plan.

(j) Commercial slaughter facilities issued a license by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall submit to the Secretary or designee within five days after receipt of any documentation received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) related to violations of the Federal Humane Slaughter Act and rules adopted under that Act. The Secretary shall review the documentation submitted under this subsection for potential action under this chapter or chapter 201 of this title. A failure to submit documentation required under this subsection shall be a violation of this chapter subject to an administrative penalty under chapter 15 of this title. (Added 1985, No. 226 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 2, 1986; amended 1989, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 1991, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2001, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 40, eff. June 21, 2002; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2007, No. 207 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. April 15, 2009; 2009, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 2009, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 3, 2010; 2013, No. 83, § 3, eff. June 10, 2013; 2015, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 19; 2017, No. 75, § 5; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 136, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 73, § 3, eff. July 1, 2023.)